Articles Posted in Educational iPad Apps

PBS KIDS today announced that its new “augmented reality app” is available for the iPhone and iPod. The new Apple app is call “Fetch! Lunch Rush”.

I have generally not been that excited about the PBS children apps which the singular exception of the fantastic “Monster at the End of the Book” which deserves its own post. But “Fetch! Lunch Rush is worth a shot if for no other reason than it is PBS and it is free.

To play Lunch Rush, you need to print out a PDF of game pieces from your computer which means you have to give up your email. Really, an i-Pad app should be self-contained and I’m not real impressed with this one. But if you are looking for a free simple math app you can give this one a try.

BoBo Explores Light is a Must Buy Education App

BoBo Explores Light is a new iPad app that has exploded to top echelon of educational iPad apps. Listed in the “Book” section by Apple, BoBo Explores Light provides the two things I am looking for in an iPad application: education and entertainment.

The app provides children with a fun and education way to learn about nuances of science such as how the human eye and lasers work and fundamental science that you children will see again and again throughout their education: reflection, refraction, photosynthesis, bioluminescence, aurora borealis and much more.

The great iPad geography game, Stack the Countries, which I can’t believe I have not done a review for yet, has added South Sudan to the game.

I’m giddy about this for two reasons. First, for all of the trouble it faces, the birth of South Sudan promulgates hope in an area of the world where hope is rarer than Haley’s Comet. May God bless them all.

But, on a lighter note, it is a NEW COUNTRY! That’s cool! I’ve been talking to my kids about the vote for independence in South Sudan and how a new country will be formed. We even drew in South Sudan on old maps. To see all of that talk manifested into a game they play, that’s just awesome. And it underscores the power of the iPad and the Internet. I still remember having encyclopedias that I’m sure were outdated when they were being printed.

Why bother to give you kids mazes? Obviously, kids develop better spatial skills by working through a maze. But really. So what? I looked into this because I have been hitting mazes hard with my kids, if for no other reason that I was/am terrible at them. So I wanted to justify the educational value of mazes.

First, the studies seem clear that there is a relationship between motor development and spatial cognition. So that alone should get you into mazes. There is a also great predictive data on all kinds of good things with the Porteus Maze on which there are a lot of studies.. I was so interested I tried to buy these. But for $239? Let’s see what the iPad has.

I have probably 10 different iPad maze games. My favorite is Maze Plus. Maze Plus allow you to literally do the maze, drawing the line from start to finish with your finger that pulls a line behind you. The mazes are cute and fun. “Daddy, how does the pig get to the moon? An air balloon.” My kids really just love the game to the point where they think it is a treat to let them play it.

L’Escapadou puts out a kids’ crossword puzzle called Montessori Crosswords. It started out as a really good – the only good one I have seen in fact – crossword puzzle for young kids learning definitions and learning to spell. It has evolved into a fantastic iPad app because L’Escapadou continues to make quality updates. They had a great update a few months back and, when I returned from vacation yesterday, I uploaded another great update that makes the game that much better.

The gist of the game is that it is a picture crossword. You see the picture and must spell the word. If you have a child learning to spell and learning vocabulary – albeit apparently British vocabulary – this game is a must get.